Holocaust Survivor And Oscar Nominee Alice Herz Sommer Dies At 110

Alice Herz Sommer, the oldest-living Holocaust survivor and subject of Oscar-nominated film Lady In Number 6, has died at the age of 110.

Herz Sommer passed away in London on Sunday (23Feb14).

Her death comes just one week before the Academy Awards, in which Lady in Number 6: How Music Saved by life, is up for Best Short Subject Documentary.

Herz Sommer, an accomplished music teacher, survived the Holocaust at Theresienstadt concentration camp by playing the piano for the Nazis. She performed more than 100 concerts for her captors until she and her son were liberated in 1945.

She lost her husband during her time at Theresienstadt.

Confirming her death, Lady in Number 6 producer Nicholas Reed says, "All of us are in shock. Alice had such a strong life force and her spirit was so strong that I could never imagine her not being around. She had been sick a few times over the last few years, but her indomitable spirit always pulled her through.

"The fact that we were able to capture Alice's lessons for all the generations to come makes us feel very proud. When things got tough, we would always ask ourselves, 'What would Alice say?' So, in that spirit, I am sad but I am happy that she had such a full life, a life that helped and inspired so many people, that brought such beauty into the world."